Life's Little Changes
by Kitsune Disciple
Summary: OneShot story about the family love/bond between Sonic and Tails but with a surprise in store. Hope you enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW


This is just a short OneShot that I came up with focusing on the loving and loyal relationship between Sonic and Tails

**This is just a short OneShot that I came up with focusing on the loving and loyal relationship between Sonic and Tails. There is a surprise at the end and I hope you'll enjoy it. For the purpose of this story Sonic is aged 16 and Tails is aged 5.**

**Life's Little Changes**

**(Somewhere in a darkened city, exact location unknown)**

The fight had been raging around them for nearly an hour, yet they still kept coming, an endless swarm of metal monstrosities seeking only one thing. The death of the blue hedgehog and his ever loyal brother. On and on they came, slashing with long blades and firing in all directions with their side sponsored chain guns but ever failing to land a successful hit on the target. Eggman watched from his little hovercraft as the blue blur ripped his creations to shreds on the ground, whilst up in the air the little flying fox, or 'Rotten little pest' as Eggman like to call him, was equally giving all he was worth by dive-bombing his targets and knocking the gears right out of them before quickly reacting and taking off again before any counter attack could be made against him. He may have only been a child but as he watched his big brother in action he felt unstoppable, so much so infact that he even surprised himself by how long he was lasting. Not long to go now, both of them had weathered the worst of the storm and now it was only a question of counting the score between them.

Eggman could see that the battle was lost and so bid a hasty retreat leaving the handful of his metallic servants to fend for themselves. "_Mark my words hedgehog, gloat whilst you can, this is not the end infact very far from it_" came the chilling thoughts racing across his mind as he disappeared into the darkness and vanished from sight.

Meanwhile as Eggman ran Sonic was beginning to let his ego get the better of him, he was taking careless risks, even allowing the machines to see how accurate their aim was when he stood motionless in one position before bringing them down. "Ha! I would've thought this would be a challenge, but I'm getting bored now, oh well fun don't last for ever". Once again his cocky nature was getting the better of him and someday it would rebound on him, someday soon as it turned out to be.

"Hey Tails, how you holding up bro. what's your score anyway?".

"I've taken down twenty, beat that bro Ha Ha!" came the reply from above him.

Tails, hovering overhead, had actually only taken down twelve battlebots whilst Sonic had taken down more than twice that number, but he wasn't going to let him become aware of that. However he knew that Sonic's super speed was what always clenched victory for him, well when he looked back on past adventures there was that time when he did beat Sonic's score in a similar situation to the one they were both in right now. Tails had never let Sonic forget that day and always enjoyed teasing his older brother about it, this is was what younger siblings do after all when they get a chance. Sonic had first been reluctant to let the boy fight alongside him but Tails had demonstrated at a surprisingly young age that he was not one to be underestimated. Tails had shown surprising prowess and strength in a fight, albeit for one of his stature, especially since he was only five whilst Sonic was three times his senior, this was what gave Sonic faith in the boy and even though he was a first hesitant he agreed to let Tails tag alone on the many adventures they had together. If truth be told Sonic had had always seen hidden strength in the lad even if Tails couldn't see it in himself and thus his respect and admiration for him grew as time went on. However Sonic had always been fearful for his little brother's safety but he realized that sooner or later no matter how much he loved him he couldn't keep watch over him for eternity, at some point Tails would grow up and make more mature decisions. But that was still along way off Sonic thought to himself, or was it.

"Ok little bro, time to finish this and head off home. I'll let you take the two and the left and have the remainder on the right".

"Sure thing Sonic, ok butt-bots you're going down". Tails charged right at them and knocked the first one he came into contact with into the other and both ended up embedded in a wall. Seeing his task now complete Tails looked over to see how Sonic was doing and it was at this moment that his life would change. Sonic had disposed of three out of four of the battlebots but whilst he was distracted the fourth aimed its gun at the back of Sonic's head. Tails just simply switched on auto pilot, he had to help Sonic, shouting to him would only cause a slow reaction so he took it upon himself to take matters into his own hands. Tails flew as fast as he could towards Sonic's position the gun was seconds away from firing, before Sonic could turn to face his opponent he felt a small but nevertheless powerful force push him to one side and he landed face down in the dirt. It was then that time seemed to stop, all thoughts exited from his mind and all sound evaporated save one. The sound of two gun shots impacting against flesh.

Sonic quickly came to his senses and looked around for Tails, at first he noticed the last battlebot standing not ten feet from him with smoke exiting from its chain gun barrel but next he saw an image that would stick with him for the rest of his life. Tails, at first stood still with an expression on his face that seemed to indicate that he did not fully comprehend what had happened to him, but then he looked at Sonic with a sad and painful look etched across his face before falling onto his little knees and then fully collapsing on the ground.

"TAILS!... OH GOD… TAILS" came the shocked response from the hedgehog, before he could aid Tails he had to dispatch this remaining mechanical pest. Sonic spindashed towards the robot cutting it in half, now that this machine was no longer of any threat all his thoughts focused on Tails.

Sonic ran to his little brother's side and lifted his little body off the ground, holding him in his arms tears began to well up in Sonic's eyes and his throat became stiff and dry as he tried to speak. "TAILS… BRO… WAKE UP!. Come on kid speak to me… open your eyes". As Sonic held him he noticed two small bullet holes in the little kitsune's upper torso and has he retracted his left hand his white glove was covered with the familiar stain of blood. Pressing down onto the wound to stop the trickle of blood exiting his brother's body, Sonic held him close to his chest as he rocked slowly back and forth on the ground. Closing his eyes as he held the boy tightly Sonic's thoughts began to race through his mind, first was sorrow but then guilt, had he somehow caused this to happen, was this all his fault. If it was and the worst came, he felt that he would never forgive himself. Sonic had never been one for prayer, but this changed everything, he sat on the ground praying that this was not the end, that death would retract it's hand and spare his brother's life.

"_Gotta get help…he needs a doctor…must save him_" were the thoughts running through Sonic's mind, time was of the essence and this was no time to blame himself. He would save that for later. Rising off the ground Sonic ran out into the street clutching the unconscious body of Tails tightly in his arms, his twin tails hung limp and dragged across the ground just as the heavens began to unleash their own sadness upon the city.

(_**Ten Minutes later**_)

Sonic rushed into the city's hospital and almost collapsed onto his knees in the hallway under the strain of a mixture of sadness and guilt. "PLEASE SOMEBODY… ANYBODY… I NEED HELP!" came the cry of anguish as the blue hedgehog stared at the apparently lifeless form of his brother in his arms. _"Please hold on little one, I wont let you down I swear it_", was Sonic's determined thought as he buried his head into the little cub's furry chest. It felt so soft, warm and safe and Sonic almost retracted his face fearing that to spoil something so precious with his tears of guilt and shame would have been a crime. However there was an indication that gave Sonic hope, Sonic pressed his head once again against Tail's chest and to his relief he could hear a heartbeat. It was faint but it was there and this is what Sonic had prayed for, all it seems was not lost.

Hearing his cry's of anguish two medical staff rushed over to Sonic's side. "Please give the lad to me sir, we'll take care of him" came the heartwarming reply of one of the staff, Sonic was at first reluctant to hand Tails over to them, he wanted to hold onto the boy for as long as he could as if failing to do so could mean the end of the world. Handing Tails over to one of the medics they quickly whisked him away to the operating theatre to remove the bullets that were still lodged in his chest leaving Sonic exposed and alone in the hallway as the other staff member tried to comfort him. Sonic, with tears streaming down his face, reached out towards Tails as he was carried off into the distance as if trying to desperately hold him once more, to feel that sense of warmth and hope kindle within him once again. But to no avail.

The staff member helped Sonic up from the floor and walked him over to the reception desk. He was met by a young and cheerful looking female cat dressed in the appropriate nurse's uniform. Seeing Sonic's distressed sate she tried her utmost to be as compassionate and reassuring as possible towards him, "Sir, I'm going to need some information about the child you brought in. first off I will need his full name".

Sonic was not listening to what she was saying, all his concentration was primarily focused on thinking about Tails but she eventually managed to get through to him and he shook his head for a few seconds as he brought his focus back towards the questions he was being asked.

"His name's Miles 'Tails' Prower" he said whilst flinching, he realized how much Tails hated the name 'Miles', almost as if was some kind of insult towards him.

"Thank you sir, now I'll also need information as to the circumstances of his injuries".

Sonic just looked at her wondering in the back of his mind whether he would be blamed for taking Tails into that situation, whether he would be accused of ignoring Tails's safety and deliberately putting him in harms way. Now it all flooded back to him, the guilt, the pain and the tears. However it only remained within his mind for a few moments before he stood upright and told the girl all that had occurred. All that was important was telling the truth and if any information could be gleamed for what he said that would aid Tail's recovery in any way possible, then he would gladly give it no matter what people thought of his actions afterwards. This was not the time for kowtowing to his ego and pride for that, so he felt, was what caused Tails to become injured in the first place. Besides Tails would want him to tell it like it was, being the hero for a change and saving Sonic's backside.

The next question that was asked had a real impact upon Sonic, one that would really cause him to think long and hard about what he felt towards Tails. The nurse lifted her head up from the desk after finishing writing down the last details of Sonic's recollection of events and asked, "What relation is the child to you?".

Now it was not clear why Sonic gave the answer that he did, it just seemed to protrude from his mouth automatically without him thinking. "He's… my son" was the reply.

The nurse, at first, just gave him a puzzled look, surely that could not be possible "_they look nothing alike_" was the thought going through her mind. At first she just stared at him to which Sonic started to wonder if that what he had said was a mistake on his part at best, or that she would feel that what he had told her were all lies and that he had kidnapped the boy and was solely responsible for his injuries at worst. To Sonic's utter relief she then smiled at him saying, "It's so kind of people like you to adopt a young child, many people would not bother having another couple's child as part of their family" to which she grabbed her papers and walked into a back room before Sonic could utter anything at all.

Sonic proceeded to walk down the corridor towards the operating theater, once he arrived his took a quick glance through the circular windows on the large double doors to see if he could see Tail's situation for himself. Sure enough as the large crowd of surgeons began to part Sonic caught a glimpse of Tails lying on the operating bed with his arms by his side, his twin tails tucked neatly and carefully underneath his back and a plastic mask covering his face with a long plastic tube leading to a machine with two black plastic pumps in two cylinders moving up and down in order to pump fresh air into his lungs. "_Hold on son, just hang in there and you'll pull through_". There was that word again that Sonic could simply not shift from his chain of thought.

Sitting down on one of the chairs outside the operating theatre and directly facing the twin doors Sonic began to ponder over what he had told the nurse. No of course Tails wasn't his son, or was he, if truth be told Sonic hadn't directly meant to distort the truth for he had technically adopted Tails as his little brother after he had found him all alone, cold and near death's door at two years old in the Great Forest. But still, 'son', was that going too far. Sonic thought about it over and over again, yes he loved Tails more than life itself for the cub was after all his own family now and had always been since that day he found him. Since that day when the thirteen year old blue hedgehog found him, an invisible bond had connected them that would last the rest of their lives. From that day onwards Sonic cared for, fed, washed and clothed the little cub, where once he questioned what his own life was worth now he knew that his life had a purpose. That purpose was to love the child as his own family, but it now seemed that it was more than love between brothers that had helped both of them survive over the course of the years, it was a love that could only be felt between a father a son.

This had clenched it for Sonic now, now he knew that the love he felt towards Tails was more than he had previously realized. Tails had always shown love and respect to Sonic but there were intimate moments that any father and son would find familiar, indeed at times when Sonic had finished reading a true bedtime story to Tails, or one of his own stories from his colorful imagination, he would sit and watch as the young child lay in peaceful sleep without a fear in the world. Even after waiting for as long as he dared so as not to wake the boy, Sonic would plant a gentle kiss on the cub's forehead and utter the quiet words "Goodnight, son" as he exited the bedroom. Sonic had never dared to tell that to Tails personally incase it would cause him some form of emotional trauma, he was perfectly comfortable for Tails to view him as his big brother and that was enough for him. However as he leaned his head back against the hospital wall Sonic made a promise to himself, no more beating about the bush, if Tails pulled through he would tell him how he really felt. He would be proud to call him his son.

(_**Two Hours Later**_)

Sonic lay asleep in the chair, it had taken so long that the worries over Tail's health had exhausted him. However he was awoken by the hand of one of the surgeons shaking his shoulder with enough force so as to rouse him from his sleep. As soon as Sonic realized that the surgery was over he became terrified that the doctor was bearing bad news.

"What's happened… is Tails ok… please tell me he's alive" came the pleas as Sonic grabbed hold of the surgeons green operating jacket in a desperate attempt to force the information out of him.

"Its ok sir, he's made a perfect recovery. He's still quite weak but we managed to successfully remove the bullets and stop the bleeding, he was lucky indeed, two more inches to the left and both bullets would have penetrated his stomach at which point he would've been beyond our aid".

Sonic was simply overcome with emotion, so much so that for a while he just stood up and hugged the doctor so tightly that he had to force Sonic off him in order to breathe. This was it, the greatest feeling that Sonic had ever felt in his life it was as if he could feel the glee and happiness from ten thousand birthday parties and celebrations all at once. "Can I… see him please" came a tearful response to the doctor's happy tidings.

"Of course, follow me ad I'll take you to his private room".

Sonic was dumbfounded but followed the doctor regardless, "_Private room_, _even after a near death experience he still gets treated like royalty_", he thought to himself as a large smile of happiness came across his face. Sonic wondered if it would be rude to ask why he got a private room but he put those thoughts to the back of his mind and innocently asked the question regardless.

"Well sir, for someone in his situation we thought it would be best if we moved him to a private room where he could recover in peace, besides he's attracted a lot of attention from the female staff around here. They just can't seem to keep their hands off him, they think he's adorable and anything he's asks for they gladly go and get for him".

Sonic just rolled his eyes at the doctor's comment, "_That's Tails for you, he always did know how to use his youth and cuteness to attract people to him_", Sonic just laughed at the comment and inquisitively asked another question.

"Did he ask for anything in particular" enquired Sonic fully expecting the Doctor's reply to be along the lines of ice cream, orange juice with ice, the usual requests that a five year old would ask for. But the doctor's true reply hit an emotional nerve.

"He asked for you, he said please find my big brother the great Sonic the Hedgehog".

So shocked was he at hearing this that Sonic just halted where he stood. He had feared that Tails would blame him for almost getting him killed, and rightly so he thought for he still couldn't shake off the fact that he felt extreme quilt over his actions. Or the lack of them. But no, instead Tails was asking for him directly and what was more amazing was the fact that Tails had put the word 'great' along with his name in the same sentence. Could it be that Tails did not harbor any ill feelings towards him, Sonic instantly thought that if the doctor spoke the truth then it was obviously clear that Tails didn't despite what he personally felt in his heart. The love that had united them across the years had proven its strength once again and all Sonic wanted to do was to rush to the Kitsune's side, throw his arms around him and tell him that he loved him.

When the doctor finally stopped outside Tails's room he opened the door and allowed Sonic to enter before departing and leaving the two of them alone. Nervously at first Sonic entered the room to see the small cub lying on his own comfortable bed with the rays of sunshine beaming through the window and illuminating the young fox's now golden fur. Sonic threw all other thoughts out of his mind and raced over towards Tails and wrapped his arms around him as soft warm tears fell down his cheeks. Despite being quite taken aback by the situation Tails equally put his arms, as far as they could reach, round Sonic's waist and began to cry himself.

"I'm… sorry Sonic that… I got hurt, I'm sorry if… if I made you frightened" uttered the little voice amongst the sniffles and tears to which Sonic began to cry even more and slumped to the floor beside Tail's bed.

"No Tails… it's my fault… I'm to blame for this" came Sonic's reply as he tried to make Tails understand that he was in no way responsible for what had occurred and that the blame lay with him alone. As his throat began to dry and constrict Sonic uttered, "If… my stupid damn pride had not gotten the better of me then… you wouldn't have been hurt".

"Tails… you mean the world to me and I couldn't live with myself if anything bad happened to you... please for… forgive mm… me" Sonic said as he buried his face into the cub's furry chest trying desperately to beg forgiveness for his mistakes. The white fur beamed in the sunlight and its softness and warmth brought some comfort to Sonic's heart.

"There is nothing to forgive, you're my big brother and you saved my life".

Sonic felt some relief but he could never shake the feeling that his arrogant pride had almost cost the life of the one he loved. As Sonic lifted himself off the floor he sat on the bed as Tails rested his soft furry head on his lap to which Sonic began to gently stroke the fur on his head and chest. Now he felt was the correct time to confess what he truly felt towards Tails in his heart, something he had often said in private but that he had made a solemn promise to confess to Tails if he recovered. Leaning over to whisper into the kitsune's ear…

"Tails, you know I love you and well… you know how you're always looking up to me as you're big brother, well I wondering if… if".

"If what Sonic?"

"Would you mind if I called you… my son". Sonic clenched his teeth hoping that Tails would not get too offended by the remark, but even so he now wondered if it had been right to say that to Tails so soon after recovering from his operation. Sonic just waited patiently, more so than at any other time in his life, for Tails to answer. Eventually after a few seconds Tails raised his head and looked directly into Sonic's eyes.

"I would love to, dad". And to further prove the point he hugged his new father as tightly as possible.

Sonic said nothing in reply he just threw his arms round his son as tears again began to run down his face, but these were tears not of pain or guilt they were of love and true happiness. He had lost a little brother but had gained something infinitely more precious, a son. Both of them remained glued to one another as the sunlight streamed in through the window illuminating the both of them.

………………………………………………………………

**Well this was certainly a challenge, not to mention the fact that (and I'm not gloating here) it took me exactly 3 hours 42 minutes to write this straight from the top of my head. I hope that no-one cried too much over this, but if you did there's nothing wrong with that – in fact with regards to this OneShot I'll take it as a complement. Hope you enjoyed it and please review.**


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